Seminole Tribune

Durante Blais-Billie offers participants a moment of silence for MMIR. (Photo by Daniella Hakim) In remembrance of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR), Durante Blais-Billie and Dr. Tomasina Chupco led the second annual walk of prayer for justice, unity, and remembrance. Every first week of May, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Week of Action is a sacred call to honor MMIW, girls, and two-spirit (LGBTQI+ identifying) relatives by uplifting their names, stories, and spirits.

Thomas Gallaher’s recently published historical fiction novel has been a six-year labor of love. Upon crossing paths with the Seminoles in 1981, Gallaher was certain he would write a book on the venturous tribe’s history. It wasn’t until 2020 that the author set out on relaying a story unknown to many. “Way back then, I knew one day I would write a book about the Seminoles, to try to tell the world about their unbelievable history,” said Gallaher.

Jr. Miss Florida Seminole Chaka Yani Smith commences the Sovereignty Statement Council Session on March 12, 2026, presenting her portion of the statement on health to the USET SPF Board of Directors in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Daniella Hakim) WASHINGTON, D.C. — At this year’s Close Up and United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) Impact Week Youth Summit, 30 high school students represented the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Washington, D.C. Throughout the six-day program, participating students...

Kutoven Stevens at the Stewart Indian School Cemetery in “Remaining Native.” (Courtesy photo) Kutoven Stevens pictures himself running for his life as his great-grandfather once did at eight years old. Stevens’s great-grandfather, Franklin, was among hundreds of children who resisted assimilation by running away from federally funded, church-run boarding schools across the United States.

Montana Cypress plays the lead role in “Becoming Buffalo” as Buffalo Tiger. Cypress is joined by Seminole and Miccosukee cast members, Doc Native, Marshall Sanders, Troy Sanders and Daniel Tommie. (Photo by Kevin Ondarza) Buffalo Tiger was a celebrated figure amongst the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians and Montana Cypress’s childhood in Ochopee.

Workers attach thatch to the roof of the newly constructed chickee at Wonder Gardens in Bonita Springs on Dec. 22, 2025. (Photo by Beverly Bidney) BONITA SPRINGS — Chickee builder Jimmy Wayne Holdiness and his crew built a 40 foot by 20 foot chickee at the Wonder Gardens attraction in Bonita Springs in December, which will give the attraction a place to hold educational and other events.

MOORE HAVEN – Just like championship teams in college and pro sports, the Moore Haven High School volleyball team happily put on T-shirts celebrating a triumphant accomplishment. Moments after the Terriers swept visiting Frostproof, 3-0, to claim their second consecutive district championship Oct. 17, 2025, the players, which include eight from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, donned gold shirts.

HOLLYWOOD — Jim Shore, 80, who served as General Counsel of the Seminole Tribe of Florida for more than four decades and guided the Tribe to unprecedented levels of success, died Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, at Cleveland Clinic Hospital in Weston, Fla. He was rushed there after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest at his home in nearby Davie, Fla., earlier in the day.

BRIGHTON — The Seminole Tribe’s Higher Education Department conducted multiple information sessions this month on reservations. Topics included the Billy L. Cypress Scholarship, academic programs and student resources to the Work Experience Program (WEP). Along with the information sessions, representatives from colleges and universities attended the sessions and spoke about the different academic programs each school offers to high school graduates.

BIG CYPRESS — Four Ahfachkee students will attend the Ahfachkee School and Florida SouthWestern State College in the fall. When they graduate from high school, they will have earned a high school diploma and an associate’s degree. The students are juniors Aiyana Crespo, Curmya Smith and Shakur Williams and senior Curtis Smith.